Chinese scientist pleads guilty in plot to steal GSK secrets

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Chinese scientist has pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal biopharmaceutical trade secrets from GlaxoSmithKline in what prosecutors said was a scheme to set up companies in China to market them.

Tao Li pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to a single conspiracy count. The change of plea comes two weeks after Yu Xue, a high-ranking researcher who worked at GlaxoSmithKline's suburban Philadelphia research facility, also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.

Prosecutors say Xue emailed various documents that were confidential and contained trade secrets to Li and others, who had set up a company called Renopharma in China to sell and market the research.

An attorney for Li did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press on Friday.

The Associated Press is an American multinational nonprofit news agency headquartered in New York City. The AP is owned by its contributing newspapers, radio, and television stations in the United States, all of which contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists.

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